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HV Battery Replacement Guide For Early MS 85kWh Pack Including Part Numbers And Prices (April/May 2023)

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My 2013 P85+ got the infamous bms_u029 "Charge level reduced" last week and after reading up on the forum and going back and forth with Tesla Service I decided to write up what I learned. Much of this info is available on this forum but buried in various threads. My hope is to make this post complete enough so people who find themselves in this situation will have to spend less time searching for info.

First things first: bms_u029 is the end of the pack. It is not repairable. It is not a false alarm.

There are 3rd party options for replacement packs. This post is not about them, it is about options from Tesla Service.

The following is for the US market. If you're in a different part of the world things may be different.

Tesla offers two options:

Option 1: Remanufactured 85kWh pack

Service will order you a reman pack. There's a gamble aspect to this: If Tesla doesn't have any reman packs in stock they will provide a software locked brand new 90kWh pack for the same price. But they won't tell you what you're getting until you pick up the car and it's too late to back out. The 90kWh pack will be locked to 85kWh and can be unlocked for the full 90kWh for $700-$1,000 (heard both numbers, unsure which is correct).

If you're lucky and get the new pack the final invoice will list an updated part number for the pack. The new pack requires installation of "Shear plates". The additional cost of the shear plates is goodwilled in case you ordered a reman pack.

1088815-01-BRemanufactured 85kWh pack. This pack is likely to have previous battery degradation.
1918190-85-AThis is a new 1014116-00-C 90kWh battery that has been software locked to 85kWh

Prices:

1088815-01-B Reman Battery$13,500
Various nuts/bolts/coolant~$100-$200
Labor$400

Total cost (Can vary between Service Centers)

~$14,000 + tax


Option 2: Guaranteed new 90kWh pack

If you're like me and don't gamble Tesla offers a guaranteed new 90kWh battery at additional cost. The new pack requires installation of "Shear plates" that adds to the parts cost.

1014116-00-C
New 90kWh battery.

Prices:

1014116-00-C New 90kWh Battery$17,000
Various nuts/bolts/coolant/shear plates$342
Labor$400

Total cost (Can vary between Service Centers)

$17,742 + tax

Both options come with a 4 year/50k mile warranty.


Differences between reman 1088815-01-B pack and 1014116-00-C/1918190-85-A new pack:

The 1088815-01-B reman pack is a 16 module 400V pack, the same as originally installed. To the best of my knowledge it will not have new cells. These are packs that failed due to bad BMS boards, wiring etc but the cells themselves were ok. The pack will have degradation and still be part of "charge gate", or slowed down supercharging speeds. Range can be up to 265 miles but will likely be lower due to degradation.

The 1014116-00-C/1918190-85-A new pack is a 14 module 350V pack. It's basically a modern 100kWh pack with 2 modules removed. Once installed the car should no longer be part of "charge gate" and get much faster super charging speeds. Range for the locked 1918190-85-A is 272 miles. The 1014116-00-C (or unlocked 1918190-85-A) is 297 miles.

Hope this helps! Additions/corrections always welcome!


17239226606_6730b3311b_b.jpg

"Tesla Model S electric car at Berkeley, San Francisco Bay Area" by mariordo59 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail
 
Last edited:
Welcome fellow BMS_u029 "casualty". Great and accurate post. Last Fall I ordered reman 85 from my TSC and new 90 came in. Tesla honored the $15k (includes tax and labor) reman quote and didn't charge me for suspension parts/labor. Tesla did cork the new 90 to 85 since I have a 2012 P85. Uncorking would cost $750. I decided to keep at 85 because I don't need the extra miles and also like having a top buffer.

If you haven't already, join us at this Facebook Group I created. We're up to 163 members now. Tesla BMS_u029/BMS_u018 | Facebook
 
One minor comment on your OP - new 90 kWh Tesla pack will charge to 297 miles. Same pack corked to 85 kWh pack will charge to 270ish. Here's pic of my new 90 kWh pack when my local TSC first installed my new 90 pack. Remember they then corked it to 85.

Screenshot_20221116_211256.jpg
 
The 1014116-00-C/1918190-85-A new pack is a 14 module 350V pack. It's basically a modern 100kWh pack with 2 modules removed. Once installed the car should no longer be part of "charge gate" and get much faster super charging speeds. Range for the locked 1918190-85-A is 272 miles. The 1014116-00-C (or unlocked 1918190-85-A) is 297 miles.

As noted above, what charging speeds do you expect to get on a new pack?
 
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As noted above, what charging speeds do you expect to get on a new pack?
My new pack is scheduled to be installed end of next week. My old pack would max a 72 kWh urban SuC until 135 miles of range when new. After charge gate I see about 60 kWh at 70 miles of range and in the 40's at 135 miles. I'd expect the new pack to at least match what I had before charge gate.
 
My new pack is scheduled to be installed end of next week. My old pack would max a 72 kWh urban SuC until 135 miles of range when new. After charge gate I see about 60 kWh at 70 miles of range and in the 40's at 135 miles. I'd expect the new pack to at least match what I had before charge gate.
My new corked 90 to 85 gets 270 miles on 100% SOC. Max 120 kW, min 50ish kW charge speed.
 
I have a 2013 $. It had about 170k miles in Dec 2020 when pack died. They replaced with REMAN pack. I asked for 90 pack ,they refused. Not compatible. Ok. I asked about range, throttled back to 225, not 265. I asked about warranty, zero.
March 2022 I was in SC for TPMS software issue. SC comes out and hands me an invoice for $20k. Really? Yes he said, pack is bad causing software issues. And, motor has water in it. Really, I thanked him and left.
I pulled a sample of oil out and sent to lab. Zero water. My pack is still humming a year later.
My trust in what the Service Centers tell us is ZERO. Prices are allover the place. Get 90 or not? I've watched all of Grubers videos. Seems there's a lot that Tesla will not tell the facts on yet they want 20k for REMAN pack or a 90 set at 85. I'm not sure about the new companies doing pack work, but they are a lot cheaper than Tesla. Still 20k for pack gets us back to new car. Better than 100k. :)
 
My 2013 P85+ got the infamous bms_u029 "Charge level reduced" last week and after reading up on the forum and going back and forth with Tesla Service I decided to write up what I learned. Much of this info is available on this forum but buried in various threads. My hope is to make this post complete enough so people who find themselves in this situation will have to spend less time searching for info.

First things first: bms_u029 is the end of the pack. It is not repairable. It is not a false alarm.

There are 3rd party options for replacement packs. This post is not about them, it is about options from Tesla Service.

The following is for the US market. If you're in a different part of the world things may be different.

Tesla offers two options:

Option 1: Remanufactured 85kWh pack

Service will order you a reman pack. There's a gamble aspect to this: If Tesla doesn't have any reman packs in stock they will provide a software locked brand new 90kWh pack for the same price. But they won't tell you what you're getting until you pick up the car and it's too late to back out. The 90kWh pack will be locked to 85kWh and can be unlocked for the full 90kWh for $700-$1,000 (heard both numbers, unsure which is correct).

If you're lucky and get the new pack the final invoice will list an updated part number for the pack. The new pack requires installation of "Shear plates". The additional cost of the shear plates is goodwilled in case you ordered a reman pack.

1088815-01-BRemanufactured 85kWh pack. This pack is likely to have previous battery degradation.
1918190-85-AThis is a new 1014116-00-C 90kWh battery that has been software locked to 85kWh

Prices:

1088815-01-B Reman Battery$13,500
Various nuts/bolts/coolant~$100-$200
Labor$400

Total cost (Can vary between Service Centers)

~$14,000 + tax


Option 2: Guaranteed new 90kWh pack

If you're like me and don't gamble Tesla offers a guaranteed new 90kWh battery at additional cost. The new pack requires installation of "Shear plates" that adds to the parts cost.

1014116-00-C
New 90kWh battery.

Prices:

1014116-00-C New 90kWh Battery$17,000
Various nuts/bolts/coolant/shear plates$342
Labor$400

Total cost (Can vary between Service Centers)

$17,742 + tax

Both options come with a 4 year/50k mile warranty.


Differences between reman 1088815-01-B pack and 1014116-00-C/1918190-85-A new pack:

The 1088815-01-B reman pack is a 16 module 400V pack, the same as originally installed. To the best of my knowledge it will not have new cells. These are packs that failed due to bad BMS boards, wiring etc but the cells themselves were ok. The pack will have degradation and still be part of "charge gate", or slowed down supercharging speeds. Range can be up to 265 miles but will likely be lower due to degradation.

The 1014116-00-C/1918190-85-A new pack is a 14 module 350V pack. It's basically a modern 100kWh pack with 2 modules removed. Once installed the car should no longer be part of "charge gate" and get much faster super charging speeds. Range for the locked 1918190-85-A is 272 miles. The 1014116-00-C (or unlocked 1918190-85-A) is 297 miles.

Hope this helps! Additions/corrections always welcome!


View attachment 934639
"Tesla Model S electric car at Berkeley, San Francisco Bay Area" by mariordo59 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail
Curious what your mileage was ?
 
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guys, I am not in the S club, but a def fan as you guys are pioneers
curious, value of your S at this time, cost for the batter change, highest number and cost for equiv new S
does it make sense? I hope I can do the same in 10 years with my MYP, change the battery, but maybe that def wont make sense